German Patent Application No. 38 43 138 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,501) describes a process for controlling the movement of an armature of an electromagnetic switching element having an exciter coil. At the start of triggering, the exciter coil receives a boosted current which is higher than the current that is required to keep the armature in its position. When the armature reaches its new position, the triggering current drops back to a low current level. This change does not take place until the armature has reached its new end position. The current characteristics are analyzed to detect when the armature stops.
Magnetic circuit design requirements vary with regard to the desired dynamics of the solenoid valve needle and how well the current characteristic can be analyzed.